


Operation Eagle's Nest

by thecompletebookworm



Series: Rumbelle Showdown [11]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AKA Neal is alive and trying to build a relationship with his son and his Papa, Belle is already looking out for Henry, F/M, Fluff, I will provide what canon denied, Rumbelle Showdown 2018, They scheming like the family they truly are, season 2 divergent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 05:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14742935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: Prompts:  if you don’t mind; real or imagined?; campingHenry has a new mission: to get to know his Dad and Grandpa.  He just needs someone else on board to make their bonding camping trip a success.





	Operation Eagle's Nest

**Author's Note:**

> Originally Posted for the Final Round of the Rumbelle Showdown as Tilly

It hadn’t taken long for Belle to get used to the pawnshop.  After all, she’d dusted most of the inventory before, so it was almost a little game finding the new objects mixed among the old.  Some were clearly created by the curse, antique typewriters and lamps that ran on this world’s magic.   But others, like the dwarves’ pickaxes or the glass unicorn mobile, were clearly from their world.   She wasn’t sure if they were things that had simply popped into the shop, or her heart ached a little, if they were things Rumplestiltskin had acquired after she left.

It had taken a little more time for Rumplestiltskin to let her be alone in the shop.  Although she was pretty sure only part of that had to do with her complicated history with the modern day magic, including nearly blowing up the microwave by leaving a spoon in her teacup.  Part of the matter was that he simply didn’t like being away from her.  Even after all this time he still looked at her like a dying man, like she was about to disappear at any second.   Back at his castle, he had shied away from any physical contact but for the first two weeks she had lived in his little pink house, Rumplestiltskin’s touch consistently lingered on her.  Even the little brushes of his hands against hers as he handed her tea or did something else equally mundane seemed to remind him that she was here and not planning on going anywhere.

Still, today was Rent Day and after some small smiles and reassurances she was absolutely sure she would be fine, Rumplestiltskin had gone out to terrorize the citizens of the town.   She wasn’t expecting much company if anyone.  It had been a few months since the curse had broken.  The rush for missing wedding rings or magical cloaks had long since died down.   Belle was fiddling with one of the antique books in the back, trying to smooth out its dog-eared pages when she heard the store bell ring.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” she yelled out into the front of the store, before smoothing the last page and straightening up her dress.  

She was surprised to see one of Storybrooke’s most precocious residents peering at the cursed amulet case when she finally got there.

“What can I do for you, Henry?”  

He smiled at her but didn’t answer right away; his hands worrying over the large leather bound book he had at his side.  

“I’ve got some old maps of the Enchanted Forest if you’re here on another information quest.”  Everyone in town knew about the young prince’s excitement in the old world and Belle was never one to stand in the quest for new knowledge.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I have a different quest in mind,” he paused, as if making a decision, "Grandma.”

The last word must have felt just as strange on her ear as it was for him to say it.  She was still much too young for this, even if you counted the nearly thirty years locked up by the queen, spent in nothingness.  

"I’m just Belle, Henry.”  

“Oh, I thought with Grandpa being…” The young boy trailed off.

Belle thought about how to phrase this.  "While Rumple is undoubtedly Bael-Neal’s father"  She still wasn’t sure how to speak about the elusive Neal Cassidy, who she had only really met as Lacey.  Rumple only ever called him Bae or Baelfire but she understood the power in a name, especially one you picked for yourself. “We’re not married.”

“But you’re True Love.”  She smiled at Henry’s insistence.

He pulled out the book to show her an image of the two of them, sitting much too close, on the day he kicked her out.  

“Well, even True Love needs to take its time to make sure things turn out just right.”  Even so, a part of her agreed with Henry’s insistence.  There would be nothing she would love better than being Mrs. Gold.  

He sighed, as if he thought the thirty years of the curse were more than enough time to give these sorts of things.  "I need your help with something.“

"I’m all ears.”  Belle came out from behind the counter, allowing herself to perch on it instead, as if she was back on the table in the Dark Castle.

Henry straightened up ever so slightly.  "I think we need to go camping as a family.“  

"I don’t understand?”

Henry got a devious smile on his face, one that she would be able to recognize anywhere.  Sometimes genetics really were uncanny things.   “Well, I really want to know my Dad and I know Dad and Grandpa are still tiptoeing around each other, so I wanted to do what they do in movies, you know go sit around a campfire and talk things out and tell ghost stories.”

“And you need an adult to get Rumple on board?”

He shook his head.  "I need _you_ to get Rumple on board.  The only other person he’d do it for would be Dad, but I feel like we might need to trick them into being in the same room, let alone on the same camping trip.“  

Belle smiled indulgently at him.  "I’m sure he’d do it for you too, Henry.  You have no idea how excited he is to have you in his life.”  

Henry blushed and looked at the ground.  "I also need help getting supplies and a campsite though.  So I need your help.“

"Just give me a week or two to get everything set up. But I think this is a wonderful idea.”

“Sweet!” Henry’s smile could have powered an entire castle. “We need an operation name.”

“Operation name?”

“Yeah, like Mongoose or Glass Slipper or, oohh I got it: Operation Ogre.”

Belle couldn’t repress a shudder at that.

“Wait, so they’re real? Not just something the book made up?”

“Very real and very terrifying.  I thought the book had everyone’s story.”

Henry shrugged. “Sometimes the book is vague on certain details.  I wasn’t sure if they were like the ones from Shrek or more like a Orc or just a name for a really evil army of mountain people.”

Belle laughed at that, a feat she would have never thought possible before. "I don’t know exactly what half the things you said are, but I can safely say that ogres are worse than any Shrek.”

Now it was Henry’s turn to giggle.  "All right, how about Operation Eagle’s Nest.“ 

"I’m not sure how you came up with that, but Operation Eagle’s Nest sounds wonderful.”

“I don’t know if I can get my walkie-talkies back from Mom, but if not I can try to swing by so we can get all the details figured out.”

He gave her a co-conspirator’s smile, one she was all too happy to return.

“I think it might be better for the two of us to meet at Granny’s or at the Library.”  She was still trying to get it properly cleaned and organized for its grand opening, so Rumple wouldn’t expect anything if she needed to spend some more time there.  

Henry beamed and offered his hand.  "Operation Eagle’s Nest is a go!“

* * *

It had taken much less effort than she had expected to get Rumple on board, even without all the details of exactly who they were going camping with.   His largest complaint seemed to center around why on earth they weren’t just using his cabin.

"Belle, it’s got heat and a real bed.  Just think of how much better it will be than the cold, hard ground.”  He’d given her a devious little smile then said, “Much more romantic too.”

“Come on Rumple, one little adventure with me, with tents and a fire and-” She tried to remember what Henry had called them.  "Mores!“

"I think you mean S'mores, dear.” But she could already tell from his indulgent smile that she had won.

But now, curled up against Rumplestiltskin’s side now as he and his son delighted Emma and Henry with stories of the old world as they all roasted marshmallows over the fire, Belle felt like they had truly all won.


End file.
